Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (13/245)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

the buttons of his garments; but he gave no answer to anyone who called him. I therefore closed the door on him, went out, and informed the heir-apparent of what had happened. The emirs and the chiefs of state then came to offer him condolences for his father and congratulations on his accession, and they pledged allegiance to him.

[The biography of al-Muqtadī bi-Amr Allāh
(may Allah have mercy upon him)]

He is the Commander of the Faithful al-Muqtadī bi-Amr Allāh, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh, son of al-Dhakhīra, the prince and heir-apparent, Abū al-ʿAbbās Muḥammad, (1) son of the Commander of the Faithful al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh ibn al-Qādir Billāh al-ʿAbbāsī. (2) His mother was a concubine named Arjuwān, an Armenian, who lived to witness the caliphate of her son, that of her grandson al-Mustazhir, and even that of her great-grandson al-Mustarshid as well. (3)

Al-Muqtadī was fair-skinned, pleasant in features, and of full stature. In his days many quarters of Baghdad were built up, and he expelled from it the female singers and the people of amusement [and other acts of disobedience]. He was zealously protective of the people’s womenfolk, enjoined what is right and forbade what is wrong, and his public conduct and private state were both praiseworthy—may Allah envelop him in His mercy.

He died on Friday, the middle of Muḥarram in this year, at the age of thirty-eight years [eight months and nine days]. (4) He had held the caliphate for nineteen years [and eight months less two days], and his death was kept secret for three days (5) until the allegiance to his son al-Mustazhir was firmly secured. Then the funeral prayer was performed over him and he was buried in the family mausoleum.

[The caliphate of al-Mustazhir bi-Amr Allāh, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad]

When his father died [on Friday], he was brought in—being sixteen years and two months old—and the oath of allegiance was given to him as caliph. The first to pledge was the vizier Abū Manṣūr ibn Jahīr, after whom the oath was taken for him from the king Rukn al-Dawla Barkiyāruq ibn the sultan Malik Shāh, then from the emirs and the notables. [The pledges continued for three days, after which the bier was displayed on Tuesday, the eighteenth of Muḥarram. The new caliph, his son, led the funeral prayer over him; the people attended, while the sultan himself did not attend but rather the principal among his amirs.] (6) The emirs and viziers prayed over him, and among the scholars present were al-Ghazālī, al-Shāshī, and Ibn ʿAqīl; [they too offered their pledge that same day].

(1) The original reads “Abu Abdullah”, which is mistaken. The caliph’s actual name was Abdullah, and his kunya was Abu al-Qasim, as confirmed by his biographical sources: al-Muntazam (vol. 9, p. 84); al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh (vol. 10, p. 231 and preceding); Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (vol. 18, p. 318). (2) The original reads “Ahmad”, which is incorrect. In Dhakhīra al-Dīn he is named Muḥammad ibn Amīr al-Mu’minīn al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh, prince and heir apparent; he died during his father’s caliphate in 447 AH. (3) The passage from “the description of his death…” to this point is an addition found in editions (b) and (t). (4) Added in editions (b) and (t); in edition (a) it reads “thirty-eight and a half years.” (5) The section from “and his succession…” to this point is omitted in edition (b). (6) Added in editions (b) and (t).

أزرار ثيابه، فإذا هو لا يجيب داعيًا، فأغْلقتُ عليه الباب، وخرجتُ فأعلمت ولي العهد بذلك، وجاء الأمراء ورؤوس الدولة يعزّونه بأبيه ويهنئونه بالخلافة، فبايعوه. [ذكر ترجمة المقتدي بأمر الله، (رحمه الله) ] هو أمير المؤمنين، المقتدي بأمر الله، أبو القاسم عبد الله بن (١) الذخيرة، الأمير ولي العهد، أبو العباس محمد (٢) بن أمير المؤمنين القائم بأمر الله بن القادر بالله العباسي، أمّه أم ولد، اسمها أرجوان، أرمنيّة أدركت خلافة ولدها، وخلافة ولده المستظهر، وولد ولده المسترشد أيضًا] (٣) . وكان المقتدي أبيض حلو الشمائل، تامّ القامة؛ عمرت في أيامه محال كثيرة ببغداد، ونفى عنها المغنيَّات وأرباب الملاهي [والمعاصي] ، وكان غيورًا على حريم الناس، أمّارًا بالمعروف، نهّاءً عن المنكر، حسن السيرة والسريرة، تغمده الله برحمته. وكانت وفاته يوم الجمعة منتصف المحرم من هذه السنة، وله من العمر ثمان وثلاثون سنة [وثماني شهور وتسعة أيام] (٤) ، وخلافته من ذلك تسع عشرة سنة [وثمان شهور إلا يومين، وأخفي موته ثلاثة أيام (٥) ، حتى توطّدت البيعة لابنه المستظهر، ثمّ صلي عليه ودفن في تربتهم. [خلافة المستظهر بأمر الله أبي العباس أحمد] ولما توفي أبوه [يوم الجمعة] أحضروه وله من العمر ست عشرة سنة وشهران، فبويع له بالخلافة، وكان أول من بايعه الوزير أبو منصور بن جَهير، ثمّ أخذت البيعة له من الملك ركن الدولة بركياروق بن السلطان ملك شاه، ثمّ من الأمراء والرؤساء، [وتمت البيعة تؤخذ له إلى ثلاثة أيام، ثمّ أظهر التابوت يوم الثلاثاء الثامن عشر من المحرم، وصلّى عليه ولده الخليفة، وحضر الناس، ولم يحضر السلطان بل كبراء أمرائه] (٦) وصلى عليه الأمراء والوزراء، ومن العلماء: الغزالي، والشاشي، وابن عقيل [وبايعوه يوم ذلك] .

(١) في الأصل: أبو عبد الله. خطأ. فاسم الخليفة عبد الله، وكنيته أبو القاسم كما في مصادر ترجمته. المنتظم (٩/ ٨٤)، الكامل في التاريخ (١٠/ ٢٣١ وما قبلها)، سير أعلام النبلاء (١٨/ ٣١٨). (٢) في الأصل: أحمد. خطأ، فذخيرة الدين اسمه: محمد بن أمير المؤمنين القائم بأمر الله الأمير ولي العهد، توفي في خلافة أبيه سنة ٤٤٧ هـ. (٣) من قوله: صفة موته .. إلى هنا، زيادة من (ب) و (ط). (٤) زيادة من (ب) و (ط) وفي (أ): ثمان وثلاثون سنة ونصف. (٥) من قوله: وخلافته .. إلى هنا ساقط من (ب). (٦) زيادة من (ب) و (ط).